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Greenpeace blockades DEFRA in timber protest

Protestors against illegal logging in Papua New Guinea block entrance to government department.

Greenpeace protestors have blockaded the entrance of Defra's offices to protest about rainforest wood that finds its way to UK timber merchants.

Protestors begun their action shortly after 7.30am, 19 October 2005, by dumping over a tonne of plywood secured with large chains over the entrance of Defra, the Government body responsible for the environment.

Two activists chained themselves to the wood while others scaled the Defra building to reveal a banner reading ‘Ban Illegal Timber’.

“The Government must prohibit this criminal trade immediately," said Nathan Argent, a Greenpeace campaigner chained to the plywood. "The Government has known about this problem for years and they’ve done absolutely nothing about it.”

The action follows an investigation by the charity said to show how rainforest timber illegally logged in Papua New Guinea ends up in British builders' merchants.

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